London, 30th March, 2020.
Those were the coordinates Clara gave the Doctor not five minutes ago before she left, along with a specific address. The Timelord sat down pondering why her Impossible Girl would want her to come here for an answer to her previous question. Maybe it was a secret base she had, or a temporary shelter. The date did seem vaguely familiar though, Maybe she came here before in a previous regeneration. There was only one way to find out. She exited the Tardis and went out to examine this interesting area.
She was greeted by the appearance of a normal two floored house in front of her. It was a rather large house, more than the others around it. Most likely for a family. Seeing as there was an upstairs and a window there, there were most likely kids living there at one point of time if not currently. The house itself was painted white but the bricks that were laid to keep it up were red but faded. So it had been here for a while. She took a closer look. There was an intercom system which she scanned. It hadn't been used regularly in a year, two years give or take. The only thing left now was to knock on the door and see who was inside. Three sharp and loud raps the Doctor gave the door in order to get the house's inhabitant's attention. She waited for precisely 10 seconds (she liked keeping track of those things) before the door was opened and she met the person inside.
"Hey you." Clara said as she greeted the Doctor at the door. She had changed outfits from the last time she had seen her. Clara was now wearing a red dress with a gray cardigan, with a pair of black tights and biker boots.
"Hi. You..you look really pretty." The Doctor said, stuttering a bit. Compliments were still a bit difficult but she had gotten much better at them.
"Thanks," Clara said as she blushed, not used to being complimented by the Doctor like that. Even after what they had done in Victoria's palace on that night, a simple compliment like that still made her blush like a young teen in love.
"Come on in." she said, inviting the Doctor into the house.
"Sounds like a great thing to do." the Doctor said as she walked in. The house's exterior was portrayed in its interior, as the place was decently spacious with a high ceiling and a staircase directly in front of them. The place was familiar to the Doctor but she couldn't place it. It would come to her eventually.
"Sorry if it looks a bit weird, they moved out two years ago. I've been keeping it up since then on my own so there's not much need for a lot of stuff." Clara explained as she directed the Doctor to the sitting room and they sat together on the couch.
"Sure. One question though. Where exactly is this?" the Doctor inquired. She was a bit confused as to what this place was and why Clara brought her here.
"Do you not remember?" Clara asked, with a bit of a lower timbre in her voice, the question having a slightly sad tone to it.
"I've needed to sort out my memories properly for a while now since I've regenerated, especially ones involving you because of.....you know." the Doctor admitted as Clara nodded in understanding.
"Oh yes right. I didn't realize. Well like I said, this is page one. On this day, seven years ago, right about now actually, you came to that door knocking it like a madman and I met you, for the first time. I wore this outfit and you...well you were dressed as a monk haha." Clara said with a warm smile.
"Yeah, not one of my best fashion choices was it? So this is the Maitlands' house. I haven't been here since you moved to your new apartment when you became a teacher." the Doctor said reminiscing.
"Yeah, I checked in on them a few times in our last full time travelling together. George got remarried and eventually Angie and Artie moved out. Went to some nice universities actually. "
"How did you end up with the house?"
"Well, like I said they moved out two years ago, so I ended up here on a nostalgia trip and I saw that it was up for sale and bought it. I've been maintaining it for the last year or so. It's kinda been a home base for me I guess, when I needed to slow down and relax and I didn't want to stay in my Tardis." Clara told the Doctor.
"Do they know you're...." the Doctor asked, wanting to make sure of one thing.
"....No, no they don't. UNIT told them about me I guess and I didn't want to make anything complicated. I ended up finding George and his new wife's house one Christmas and I checked in on them as the whole family was there. They left a chair open at the dinner table, ....for me. I didn't know I was that important to them." Clara said, her eyes began to water as her voice slightly trembled saying that last sentence.
The Doctor took Clara into her arms and she caressed her hair as a way to calm her down. "Of course you were. You stood in when no one else was available and you were a babysitter/big sister to Artie and Angie. You provided such valuable help to them in a time when they needed it the most. If there's one thing you absolutely are, it's important, especially to me."
Clara turned towards the Doctor and kissed her which surprised the Doctor who quickly took it in her stride. "Thanks for that. I needed it."
"I didn't say anything that wasn't true." the Doctor said smiling as she wrapped her arms around Clara and hugged her, "I still would like to know though why we're here."
"Well, I felt that such a answer for a big question like what you gave me, needed a familiar place to think about it. I came back here the day before and I've been thinking it over since then." Clara said as she wiped the stray tears from her face.
"What have you decided?" the Doctor asked, her attention being focused on the potential answer Clara was gonna give. Clara then got up from the couch and stretched out her hand towards the still seated Doctor.
"Come on. Let's head to my Tardis. It's not too far away from here." Clara told the Doctor. The Timelord's countenance dropped as she made her assumption of Clara's choice. In her mind, if she said yes, then they would be going to her Tardis so she couldn't help but be disappointed.
"Oh. Sure." the Doctor said taking Clara's hand. The two women walked out of the house and went on the short journey towards Clara's Tardis.
"You know I actually did end up making it into a restaurant once?" For a few years or so. I did it after Ashildr and I went on a particularly harrowing adventure and needed a cool down." Clara said to the Doctor as they got closer to the diner/ship.
"I bet you made amazing chips. You know I actually had a dinner lady travelling with me once. I did lie about how that was me but it actually was someone real. Her name was Bill Potts. Chips were her specialty. I'm actually really craving some chips right now." the Doctor said as she excitedly reacted to Clara's admission.
"I'll make you a batch when we get there." Clara said laughing at the Doctor's exuberance, particularly over chips. As they arrived outside the Tardis, the Doctor came to a stop and turned her attention fully on Clara.
"Look Clara, I know what your answer is gonna be, and I want you to know that I'm not gonna be angry about it or sad. I understand." the Doctor said as a way to brace herself for the answer.
"Snap your fingers and open it. The Tardis should register to you now as well. Fixed that yesterday too." Clara told her as she tried to keep a growing smile off her face.
"I really don't know if I should. I mean it's your Tardis. You do it. It's not really my responsibility." the Doctor retorted, unaware of the potential smile.
"It's my Tardis and I want you to do it."
"Clara, I...."
"Oh for God's sake, just do it!" Clara shouted with a small giggle, which the Doctor found odd.
"Only because you asked nicely." the Doctor said teasing her. The Timelord snapped her fingers and the doors opened up to reveal four suitcases on the floor with a note stuck on one of them. The Doctor went to examine them without even looking twice at Clara and read the note on the closest case. In Clara's handwriting was written, "Do you have enough room on your bed for me?"
"See, if I'm going to live with you, we're not sleeping in separate rooms this time and your bed is gonna need to fit both of us." Clara said with a large grin on her face as the Doctor turned to face her.
"Oh it absolutely can!" the Doctor said as she ran towards Clara and swept her off her feet with a hug and then a kiss as she set her back down, "thank you so much for giving me this chance."
"Now it's just a trial run. I still am not one hundred percent sure on it but I'm close enough to at least give it a try." Clara told her.
"Of course. I understand completely" the Doctor said with a giddy smile on her face.
"Now, let's get those suitcases up and taken back to your place. Moving in is always the hard part." Clara said as she went to pick up the first suitcase.
"Yes ma'am." the Doctor said with a salute as they began to prep to officially move Clara into the Tardis.
Two trips to carry suitcases and a batch of fries later, the Doctor and Clara lounged in the console room enjoying each other's company and Clara's fries. The suitcases were already in the Doctor's room ready to be unpacked, only the laziness of its future inhabitants preventing it from happening already. After another group of chips was hoovered up by the Doctor, she felt it necessary to ask her Impossible Girl a rather important question.
"So, what do you think we should do first after we're done here?" the Doctor asked, intrigued to find out what's next.
"Well, I'm going to unpack my things and settle in. Pick my side of the bed and stuff. I'll do it by myself. I know things like that are a bit tedious for you." Clara responded as she placed a fry into her mouth.
"If you need any help, I can help you with that. I want to help you with it." the Doctor told her as she looked Clara in her eyes.
Clara fired back with her own look and then a smile. "You don't really want to do it do you?"
"No, not really actually," the Doctor admitted with a small laugh as Clara laughed as well, "But I will help you if you need me."
"I'm fine thanks. You can go fix your Tardis while I'll unpack. But the thought was lovely." Clara told her as she gave her a small kiss.
"I aim to please." the Doctor said she finished off the last of the fries, "awww. I was enjoying that."
"I'll make you some more when I'm done unpacking. The Tardis kitchen should be a good substitute for mine." Clara said as she got up from the lounge chair they were sitting at. As she was getting up, the Tardis door was knocked.
"Ugh. Tell them to go away." the Doctor moaned.
"They're knocking your Tardis door. You do it."
"I thought this was our Tardis now." the Doctor said with a teasing tone.
"It is, but it was yours first, so you do it. Just check the scanner first." Clara said with a smirk.
'You're the boss." The Doctor got up and went to the scanner to see who it was and her hearts dropped. Outside the door waiting were the very smartly dressed Yaz, Ryan and Graham. Now the time seemed familiar. Two hours earlier, she had dropped them off at the wedding which happened to be right around this area. "Umm, we have a problem here."
"What's up? Oh no." Clara said as she arrived at the scanner with the Doctor, "you did tell them I was coming right?"
"....I may have gotten forgotten to." the Doctor said sheepishly.
"Doctor! Did you not think to call and tell them your girlfriend was moving in?!" Clara shouted.
"In my defense, you only answered my question today." the Doctor said, defending herself.
"You had ample time to call them when I was making the chips." Clara retorted.
"That's a fair point actually." the Doctor said as the door was knocked again, "uhh ok. You know what? You were already gonna do it so go in my room and hide. Unpack by the time if you want. I'll tell them and then I'll bring you back out."
"You sure this is a good idea?" Clara questioned.
"No, but I've got no other ones right now so just go with it." the Doctor said shooing her away.
"Fine. But you owe me for this." Clara said as she went out of the room.
"I promise I'll make it up to you." the Doctor said as she went towards the Tardis' doors to unlock it and open it as she was greeted by a slightly annoyed Yaz and Ryan and an apologetic Graham. "Hi, how are you guys?"
"Better now that we're back here." Yaz said with a renewed smile as the Doctor beckoned them inside.
"How was the wedding? Was it fun? I love a good wedding. Been to a lot of them over the years and they almost always live up to the hype." the Doctor asked.
"It was alright. Got a bit boring in the middle but the food made up for it." Ryan said, "Yaz almost caught the bouquet."
"Did she now?" the Doctor said as she gave a sly smile to Yaz.
"Almost. I didn't actually catch it. The bride's sister steamrolled me to get it. Pushed me onto the floor. I had just bought this suit as well." Yaz said with a look of annoyance returning to her face.
"Ah well, the Tardis will clean it up for you. As long as you don't bring any mud into the Tardis. Learned that the hard way. So why did you knock the door instead of just coming in?" the Doctor asked, despite being ever so thankful that they did knock.
"Someone lost their Tardis key along the way." Ryan said with an accusatory glare at his grandfather.
"It's not my fault my trouser pocket suddenly decided to grow a hole now is it?" Graham said.
"Graham! I told you guys specifically to not put them in your pocket in case they get misplaced." the Doctor said with a sigh.
"I'm really sorry Doc." Graham apologized
"It's fine. I'll get you another one." the Doctor told him. She'd look for that missing key when this was all settled.
"That's the last time we trust one person with a Tardis key when we're going out. That's for sure." Yaz said as Ryan and Graham nodded, "Doctor, do you have a sewing kit that I can borrow? I wanna fix this suit as soon as possible."
"Sure Yaz. There should be one in my room. Down the hall, first door on your right. Check the first drawer." the Doctor said as the trio outside of Yaz sat down.
"Thanks." Yaz said as she walked out of the room in search of the sewing kit.
"So Doc, how did you enjoy time away from us? Nice to see you got back your proper gear." Graham asked.
"Yeah, the Tardis eventually forgave me, though I did like the outfit Yaz picked out. The time away was fine. I still missed you guys though." the Doctor responded.
"Did you go anywhere different?" Ryan asked as he took out his phone to check any messages he missed.
"I did actually. I ended up going to the 1850s and met Queen Victoria. Yaz would have....loved her." the Doctor said as it just hit her where she had sent Yaz to. She got up and went to try stop her but when she reached the exit to the console room, Yaz's scream rang out loudly.
Ryan and Graham got up from their seats in a panic, wanting to know exactly what caused Yaz to scream. "Blooming hell, what's got her going like that Doc?"
"That....that would be my girlfriend." the Doctor said with an embarrassed blush as she saw the incredulous faces of Ryan and Graham. Looks like Yaz met Clara.
The quintet reconvened to the Tardis kitchen for some cups of tea and in the case of the Fam, an explanation of who this woman is. "Alright Doctor, now that we got ourselves comfortable here, explain exactly who this is." Yaz told the Timelord, her face more serious than normal.
"This...this is my girlfriend, Clara Oswald." the Doctor said gesturing to Clara as she gave a small wave which nobody returned but Graham.
"How long have you had a girlfriend? You've never mentioned her before." Ryan asked, making a rather good point according to Yaz who nodded along with his question.
"It's a pretty recent development actually." the Doctor responded.
"How recent?" Yaz asked, expecting a certain answer.
"In between the time you guys were gone and when you came back." the Doctor sheepishly said as she put her head down in embarrassment.
"Blimey, you work fast don't you Doc?" Graham said to which Ryan giggled at to which Yaz slapped him on the shoulder.
"If I may interject and offer some kind of explanation, the Doctor and I are old friends. We used to travel together. We hadn't intended to run into each other but somehow we did and we got back into it. There was an unexpected adventure and feelings got unearthed and next thing we know, we're dating. But trust me, this did not happen in just about three hours." Clara explained to the Fam as she felt the Doctor's hand slip into hers and got a squeeze as a way to say thanks.
"So, how long actually was it?" Yaz asked, her demeanor softening a bit with the explanation.
"Give or take a few days, a very action packed few days at that." the Doctor answered, seemingly to Yaz's slight content.
"Honestly, she did want to tell you but we kinda got sidetracked." Clara said as the Doctor nodded.
"I guess you're moving in as well, seeing as you were unpacking." Yaz said with an interesting towards Clara, as Graham and Ryan looked on.
"Yes, she is, because I asked her to. Do you have a problem with that?" the Doctor asked Yaz, wanting to own up to her decision.
"Nah. The more women here, the merrier. Feels good to outnumber the guys for once. I'm definitely not gonna get that at work." Yaz said with a smile.
"Ah! I'm so glad you're happy with her being here. What about you two? How do you feel about it?" the Doctor asked.
"I'm fine with it. She seems nice." Ryan said.
"Seems great. Another young person around here should be interesting." Graham said with a laugh.
"Yeah...about that." Clara said with a smirk.
"What? Don't tell me you're some Timelord like the Doctor?" Yaz asked her.
"Oh no. I am human, or at least I was. I've lost count honestly but I think I'm at least over 500 years old. I'm technically an immortal." Clara tried to explain. The gaping mouths of the Fam showed exactly how they felt about Clara's admission.
"I must say Clara, you use some very good moisturizer." Graham joked, which sent Clara and the Doctor into a laughing fit, much to the confusion of Yaz and Ryan. The quintet continued to chat amongst each other as they learned about the Echor adventure of the Doctor and Clara. It had started off quite interestingly but the first test was passed by Clara. The Fam likes her and accepted her. Now the new journey was finally beginning. Life with Clara and the Fam was her next adventure and she was gonna enjoy it to the full. It was gonna be an interesting ride to say the least but the Doctor was ready for it.
But the Doctor noticed her hand glowing with regeneration energy but she quickly hides it in her gloves...